The Lady Tigers didn’t let a little incoming cold front mess with their hot streak. They won their sixth consecutive match on Thursday with a 5-0 decision against Carthage. Republic also posted its fourth shutout in a row, one shy of the school record.
Molly Blades scored three goals for Republic. Her first came with 29:19 left in the first half on a pass from Kendra Phiri. Blades scored again five minutes later, assisted by Adison Gibbs, to put Republic up 2-0.
Claire Redman scored from about 35 yards out to make it 3-0. She lofted a shot into the air and it came down just under the crossbar, beyond the reach of Carthage goalkeeper Keime Mendoza.
Blades completed her hat trick on another long shot late in the first half, and Republic led 4-0 at the break.
Kaylee Cornelsen scored her first goal of the season in the second half when she knocked in a deflection to make the final score 5-0. The goal was a relief to Cornelsen after a season of near-misses.
“Molly sent in a corner, and it got kicked back out to Kendra, and she played it in, and it went off a Carthage girl right to my feet, and I just kicked it in,” Cornelsen said.
Her shot deflected off another defender and popped high into the air, forcing Cornelsen to watch and wait before she could celebrate. “I just thought, please go in, because I’d shot so many, and they hit the post so many times, but it finally, finally went in.”
The six-game winning streak ties the second-longest in program history. The Lady Tigers won nine straight in 2013. Republic can equal the school mark of five consecutive shutouts Saturday at home against Capital City.
“We have grown so much as a team since where we were last year,” Cornelsen said. “We did have a lot of returners coming back this year, so we knew going into it that this was going to be a big year for us, and it’s time for us to capitalize on all the things we’ve talked about since Coach Z’s been here. Just starting to see those pieces come together has been a really good thing to be a part of.”